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1 – 10 of over 1000Magnus Wikström, Elena Kotyrlo and Niklas Hanes
This paper studies earnings and labor force participation of native Swedes and recent immigrants in Sweden in response to the childcare reforms of 2001 and 2002 using a…
Abstract
This paper studies earnings and labor force participation of native Swedes and recent immigrants in Sweden in response to the childcare reforms of 2001 and 2002 using a difference-in-differences approach and register-based data for the period of 1995–2009. Immigrant and native Swedish mothers are distinguished in order to study if increased accessibility to childcare might be particularly beneficial for groups facing obstacles in entering the labor market. The results show that the reforms had a positive effect on earnings and labor force participation among native mothers with preschool children. The group of immigrant mothers studied did not experience any gain in labor market outcomes as a response to the reform.
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the operation of classification mechanisms in organizational life, and how they construct the skills and knowledge of initially…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the operation of classification mechanisms in organizational life, and how they construct the skills and knowledge of initially marginalized client groups.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on an ethnographically inspired case study of a Swedish labour market procedure, which was designed to validate the skills and knowledge of non-western immigrant job-seekers. Qualitative data were generated through observations, in-depth interviews and document analysis.
Findings
The study found that, contrary to policy-makers’ intentions, the validation procedure ended up dissociating the non-western job-seekers’ heterogeneous experiences, skills and knowledge from the organizing processes of the labour market, displacing them beyond the boundaries of legitimate knowledge, and reproducing their marginalized position on the labour market. As non-western skills and knowledge were found unclassifiable according to the validation procedure, they were deemed too different and monstrous.
Research limitations/implications
The research approach and the specific institutional context of Swedish immigration and labour market policy means that the research results are not readily generalizable to other empirical contexts. Therefore, studies outside of Sweden are needed to generate knowledge about similar policies in other countries.
Practical implications
The classification of skills and knowledge and the organizing of difference does not primarily require new tools and methods, but a whole new perspective, which recognizes the multiplicity and heterogeneity of unusual skills and knowledge as an important part of labour market integration.
Originality/value
The paper examines the monstrous aspects of classification mechanisms within the empirical context of labour market integration efforts, which is hitherto underexplored in the literature on the management of difference and diversity.
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To investigate the special services for immigrants which are offered by Swedish libraries on their different levels (regional, local and school) and how these services conduct…
Abstract
Purpose
To investigate the special services for immigrants which are offered by Swedish libraries on their different levels (regional, local and school) and how these services conduct themselves to the development of the harmonic multicultural society.
Design/methodology/approach
The methods used in this research were interviews with librarians, the study of documents, followed by a comparative analysis. The guiding theory was a three‐phase model mentioned by Gillis Herlitz, according to which a newcomer goes through stages in an adaptation period. Phase 1 is described as a positive “honeymoon” phase, while phase 2 is a critical period of negative emotions, dominated by disappointment, which then ideally should be resolved in phase 3, where the individual reaches a balancing stage of cultural integration and successful adaptation.
Findings
The performances of public libraries on different levels seem to operate in a way that corresponds to the different phases in this model. The approach of the local libraries is more individual and psychological. Their services correspond to those immigrants, who find themselves in the “disappointment” phase, whereas the activities of the regional libraries are more informative and suitable for the “balancing” phase. The school libraries have the educational features and do not depend on the phase of immigrants’ adaptation.
Research limitations/implications
The Public Library of Borås, The Library of Komvux (The Municipal Adult Education Library) and The Hässlehus Library (the library in the district occupied mainly by immigrants) were chosen for this study.
Practical implications
To help immigrants overcome their difficulties of adaptation period in the new country.
Originality/value
This paper demonstrates how the libraries can act as a lifeline for immigrants.
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Darush Yazdanfar, Saeid Abbasian and Patrick Brouder
– The purpose of this paper is to examine whether there are any significant differences between native Swedish and immigrant entrepreneurs in business advice sought at start-up.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether there are any significant differences between native Swedish and immigrant entrepreneurs in business advice sought at start-up.
Design/methodology/approach
The study, based on a unique and large database consisting of 304 immigrant and 2,512 native-owned firms, applies several univariate and multivariate statistical methods including ANOVA and regression analysis.
Findings
According to the results there are certain similarities and differences between Swedish native- and immigrant-owned firms concerning the type of external business advice they seek. The results suggest there are significant differences between native and immigrant-owned firms for four of 20 types of advice received. Native-owned firms, on average, tend to seek more advice on accounting and on the choice of business form as well as the help of a knowledgeable person. On the other hand, immigrants seek, on average, more advice on export questions than their native counterparts.
Research limitations/implications
This research contributes to policy-making by helping authorities gain a better understanding of the impact of immigrant background on business network decisions at the nascent stage of development. Immigrant access to good advice in the nascent stage should increase new firm survival. This study does not, however, measure performance. As this research is based on aggregate level secondary data, more specific analysis has been impossible. This is an important limitation of this paper. In addition, immigrants are not homogenous groups and they differ in age, education, work experiences, etc. The results should therefore be interpreted carefully.
Originality/value
This paper is one of the first and few empirical studies investigating the issue of immigrant business advice strategies in the Swedish context. The study provides a detailed overview of how ethnicity influences entrepreneurs’ use of external business advice in the firm formation stage for micro and small firms.
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Solange Barros de Alcantara Hamrin
This study is an inductive exploration of factors that are relevant to the inclusion and integration of immigrant workers in a Swedish workplace. The purpose of this paper is to…
Abstract
Purpose
This study is an inductive exploration of factors that are relevant to the inclusion and integration of immigrant workers in a Swedish workplace. The purpose of this paper is to examine the experiences of immigrant employees with other organisational actors at two senior nursing units in Sweden.
Design/methodology/approach
Results are drawn from the analyses of interviews with six female and three male immigrant nursing assistants living permanently in Sweden.
Findings
Trustful relationships with other organisational actors, during both formal and informal interactions, are considered essential facilitating inclusion of these immigrant workers. Immigrant workers experienced inclusion when they achieved language competence (or felt supported in their attempts to do so) and bridged cultural differences. The results also highlight conditions for interactions and leadership as factors influencing inclusion. In addition, inclusion implied acculturation or awareness of the values of native-born citizens.
Research limitations/implications
The study suggests that immigrants’ relational dynamics with their colleagues are essential to inclusion, despite types of studies that focus mainly on the competences of leaders to manage diversity.
Practical implications
The results have implications for organisations’ development of a more democratic workplace with more inclusiveness and with satisfied employees.
Originality/value
The study gives voice to immigrant workers, which is rare in Swedish and international organisations that deal with the issue of immigrant integration in the workplace.
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Quang Evansluong, Marcela Ramirez Pasillas and Huong Nguyen Bergström
The purpose of this paper is to conduct an inductive case study to understand how the opportunity creation process leads to integration.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to conduct an inductive case study to understand how the opportunity creation process leads to integration.
Design/methodology/approach
It examines four cases of immigrant entrepreneurs of Cameroonian, Lebanese, Mexican and Assyrian origins who founded their businesses in Sweden. The study relies on process-oriented theory building and develops an inductive model of integration as an opportunity creation process.
Findings
The suggested model shows immigrants’ acculturation into the host society via three successive phases: breaking-ice, breaking-in and breaking-out. In the breaking-ice phase, immigrants trigger entrepreneurial ideas to overcome the disadvantages that they face as immigrants in the host country. In the breaking-in phase, immigrants articulate their entrepreneurial ideas by bonding with the ethnic community. In the breaking-out phase, the immigrants reorient their entrepreneurial ideas by desegregating them locally. The paper concludes by elaborating theoretical and practical implications of the research.
Originality/value
Immigrants act when they are socially excluded and discriminated in the labor market by developing business ideas and becoming entrepreneurs. By practicing the new language and accommodating native customers’ preferences, immigrants reorient their entrepreneurial ideas. The immigrants tailor their ideas to suit their new customers by strengthening their sense of belonging to the local community.
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Weerati Pongthippat, Gunnel Östlund, Mehrdad Darvishpour, Jureerat Kijsomporn and Lena-Karin Gustafsson
Globalisation provides new opportunities for immigrant women to supply financial benefits transnationally to uphold their families in their home countries. The purpose of this…
Abstract
Purpose
Globalisation provides new opportunities for immigrant women to supply financial benefits transnationally to uphold their families in their home countries. The purpose of this study is to explore the experiences of Thai immigrant women regarding transnational family responsibilities effects on their health and wellness.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative data were collected using semi-structured interviews with 40 Thai immigrant women, of which 34 described having transnational family responsibilities. The transcribed data were analysed using a phenomenographic approach.
Findings
The findings revealed five structural aspects of transnational family responsibilities of Thai immigrant women: being a dutiful daughter, being a caring mother, being a kind relative, being a “giving” person and striving for a wealthy life. The interviewees seldom encountered enough support from the spouse in handling their transnational family responsibilities. In general, a transnational marriage includes family responsibilities that are continuous and that often is the cause of migration.
Practical implications
This paper illuminates the transnational responsibilities of marriage migration and argues for women’s rights of culturally congruent health care.
Originality/value
Traditionally Thai women’s values are based on how they handle family responsibilities and acknowledging own health needs are not. These interviewees perceived doubled burden in terms of family responsibilities and workload in employed work, which contributed to poor health and wellness.
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Tina Gudrun Jensen and Rebecka Söderberg
The purpose of this paper is to explore problematisations of urban diversity in urban and integration policies in Denmark and Sweden; the paper aims to show how such policies…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore problematisations of urban diversity in urban and integration policies in Denmark and Sweden; the paper aims to show how such policies express social imaginaries about the self and the other and underlying assumptions of sameness that legitimise diverging ways of managing urban diversity and (re)organising the city.
Design/methodology/approach
Inspired by anthropology of policy and post-structural approaches to policy analysis, the authors approach urban and integration policies as cultural texts that are central to the organisation of cities and societies. With a comparative approach, the authors explore how visions of diversity take shape and develop over time in Swedish and Danish policies on urban development and integration.
Findings
Swedish policy constructs productiveness as crucial to the imagined national sameness, whereas Danish policy constructs cultural sameness as fundamental to the national self-image. By constructing the figure of “the unproductive”/“the non-Western” as the other, diverging from an imagined sameness, policies for organising the city through removing and “improving” urban diverse others are legitimised.
Originality/value
The authors add to previous research by focussing on the construction of the self as crucial in processes of othering and by highlighting how both nationalistic and colour-blind policy discourses construct myths of national sameness, which legitimise the governing of urban diversity. The authors highlight and de-naturalise assumptions and categorisations by showing how problem representations differ over time and between two neighbouring countries.
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Paula Mählck and Beverly Thaver
The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into certain themes and discourses that have emerged from two research projects on gender and racial equality in higher education…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into certain themes and discourses that have emerged from two research projects on gender and racial equality in higher education in Sweden and South Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on discourse analysis using a Foucauldian lens, and Universalism concepts premised on Robert Merton's scientific narratives, social texts are analysed to bring out diversity themes that shape individual research identities as positioned in South Africa and Sweden.
Findings
The findings indicate that two common themes have emerged during the research process: marginalized discourses of ethnicity and “race” as these emerge in the appointment process; and institutional culture and language. Despite the obvious differences between the countries there appear to be similar discourses at work in the education policy documents such as “gender equality” and “diversity”. The themes listed above appeared to be central for understanding how “gender equality” and “diversity” strategies operate through ethicised/racialized discourses in researchers' everyday academic lives in similar but not identical contexts.
Research limitations/implications
To be able to determine if these findings can be abstracted to a more general level, further investigations on how gender and race/ethnicity operate in the everyday lives of researchers in different socio‐cultural contexts will need to be conducted.
Originality/value
The paper offers new insights into how global discourses on “gender equality” and “diversity” operate in similar but not identical academic contexts and how academics respond to them on the level of social interaction as well as on the level of institutional culture.
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Leah Qubty, Basil Aboul-Enein, Lori Bechard, Joshua Bernstein and Joanna Kruk
Somalia is an East African nation with a history of civil unrest that produced a significant influx of refugees in the USA in the last 25 years. Between 2000 and 2010, 40 percent…
Abstract
Purpose
Somalia is an East African nation with a history of civil unrest that produced a significant influx of refugees in the USA in the last 25 years. Between 2000 and 2010, 40 percent of all US Somali refugees settled in Minnesota, which produces new cultural and health challenges for local communities and the state government. One such challenge is vitamin D deficiency, or hypovitaminosis D (Hv-D). Hv-D is developed through insufficient exposure to sunlight and low nutrient intake leading to increased risk for weakness and inflammation, oral health problems, diabetes, cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases and malignancies. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
In this narrative review, demographic, geographic and cultural information about Somali immigration are discussed.
Findings
Recent data suggest Somalis living in northern climates (Minnesota, the USA, Helsinki, Finland, Sweden and the UK) experience significant deficiencies in vitamin D. Vitamin D is stimulated by ultraviolet light exposure, a balanced and healthy diet, and dietary supplementation. High unemployment rates affecting access to health information and clinical services, significant cultural differences and climate differences pre-dispose this population to Hv-D. Health education and health promotion programming at the community and state levels in Minnesota should recognize the risk factors associated with Hv-D and the vulnerability of Somali refugees.
Originality/value
Current and future health programming should be re-assessed for adequate attention to vitamin D deficiency and cultural competency associated with the Somali immigrant population.
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